How to Cut the Cord on Cable in 2025 | 5 Things You Must Do Now!

[@FrugalRules]

What’s one challenge you’re facing when trying to save money on streaming?

[@Kenster-man]

Early Monday morning news off the press.... (Reuters) -Walt Disney Co and sports-focused streaming provider FuboTV are nearing a deal to combine their online live TV businesses, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Disney will fold its Hulu + Live TV business into FuboTV, creating a new venture that will be 70% owned by Disney and the rest by FuboTV, the report said.

[@cuquito623]

What perfect timing that your video popped up in my feed. As a KZbin tv subscriber I’ve had it with the constant price increases over the past couple of years. I’ve come to the realization that I really don’t spend too much time watching it except for the occasional ball game and even that has become a bit boring to me as I’ve gotten older. Cable news forget it. I’m sick of all of them. I get my news from certain channels on KZbin including local news clips. In the very near future I’m going to re-hook my outdoor antenna and get a Tablo box. Thank you for the excellent advice. You’ve got a new subscriber.

[@FrugalRules]

That's the way to do it, especially if you don't ind yourself watching much live TV. There are so many other options out there that are considerably less, if not free.

[@chiparooo]

Thanks for the update!

[@madwarrior84]

Hey happy to see you two posting again, Happy New Year 🥳, to you and your families!! I have a antenna and use a Roku Ultra , which give me plenty of content , with Roku channel, Tubi, Pluto Tv, and have subscription to Amazon video, with my Antenna I can watch my local Football team (Detroit Lions 🦁 ) and other primetime games, but live sports otherwise is a mess, being spread over multiple streaming services. But always thank you 🙏 for your videos, they truly do help…

[@FrugalRules]

We're glad you're able to get access to your local team. Beyond that, it's a mess for many.

[@danielsteiner5659]

Unfortunately, I only tend to watch news and sports. I was using You Tube TV, but they kept raising the price. Now, I just use my antenna to watch the network and local news and the occasional sporting event on the networks. Oh, for the old days...

[@FrugalRules]

Yep, streaming live TV has definitely changed over the past several years. KZbin TV is a good service, but the regular price hikes with little to no added value is too much.

[@stevenpidek4387]

Hi like your program. Have a question on antenna. I am planning on cutting the cord.and new to cord cutting. What antenna do you use for your local channel. I check the transmission towers map and my towers are 15 to 25 mile from me. Not shear on with way to go on a antenna. There are hardly any antenna in the store any more. Look around the area do not see antenna be put up outside considering how many people have cut the cord. Considering that two of my cable companies have drop cable tv. Any suggestions on an antenna would be helpful.

[@FrugalRules]

Great question! We've used the Mohu Leaf line for roughly a decade and really love them and we're ~10-15 miles from towers. That's the line we'd recommend. If you run into more specific issues, we'd recommend Tyler the Antenna Man channel. He's the go-to expert for all things antennas, especially for more advanced/obscure situations.

[@back2the80s]

In many areas of the country antenna is not a option. I live in a rural area. No towers nearby so no signals. No choice but to use a streaming service. So I use Philo. My internet company wants $45 per month just for local tv channels like abc plus you also have to rent their cable box at additional cost. Then pay for internet fee. So I use Philo but it doesn’t offer local channels. There should be options for people in rural areas to get local channels at a affordable cost. The digital tv conversion years ago left a lot of people in the dark with no way to access local channels

[@Kenster-man]

Shoot did Sling prices go up recently? I notice online that the Sling Blue plan used to be 40-something but now the regular price is $50.99 /month.

[@FrugalRules]

They did, unfortunately. It was right before Thanksgiving and we were out of town so weren't able to update as it happened. It's now $45.99/mo or $60.99 for Orange + Blue.

[@seanstoutgamer]

Everything is becoming more expensive!! As a person of middle class income I do have a budget! I watch lots of free KZbin and that's also how I listen to music on KZbin for free!

[@brotherjohnwaynecausey]

Just wanted to wish you guys a happy new year 2025 and let's keep this channel grow and get more cord cutters family on here

[@FrugalRules]

Thanks and to you as well!

[@fitfighter24]

Hi John why do people make streaming and cutting the cord so complicated? If people just decide hey I'm going to pick 1 or 2 streaming services and just stick to it . Or rotate it during the year everything will be fine. People go crazy oh I have to get this service for this show and another service for another show. The reality is almost all streaming services have more content that you will love and could ever run out of if you take the time to scroll and actually invest in the app. Plus many apps have a similar show to what you want. Prime example is say your a Game of Thrones fan. But you don't want to purchase max. Your a true blue Netflix viewer you can watch The Last Kingdom, The Witcher or Vikings to get your fix. It goes on just like that for any program to any streaming services. So you can literally stick to 1 or 2 services and get exactly what you want. You'll just have to adjust to a different similar show problem solved and the stress of bouncing streaming service to streaming service is also solved

[@FrugalRules]

That's a great question and we agree 100% with your view. We think it's likely a variety of different things - wanting to replace as close to exactly what they have with cable, having the set it & forget it mentality, thinking a show will leave a platform, thinking it's too difficult to manage switching between services, etc. Streaming can definitely be as expensive, if not more so, than cable...IF you allow it to be. As you said, there's so much content out there and keeping subscriptions to a minimum will still provide a lot of options plus save money. As you know, we're fans of rotating around subscriptions. 🙂

[@RandyDickinson-o8f]

Happy 2025 John and Nicole. I really love you guys the video on over-the-air antennas was awesome I may go with a mojo leaf but there are other options out there. The main reason I'm writing this is I wanted to ask you guys if you think that streaming services are going to be consolidated within the next couple of years. Here's why I'm asking that question I googled it and there are over 200 streaming services available now do you think they're going to consolidate them I mean that's a lot of streaming services and not all of them are going to get all the money. Could you answer this with your opinion or maybe do a video on it. I really like your reviews of sling and friendly I may do friendly TV in the future their prices not unreasonable and I'm not a big sports fan so it could work I'm sure you guys are already aware but KZbin just jump their prices up to 83 per month now. We're not there yet but we're getting to the point where some streaming services are not as cost-effective as cable is. If you're only going to save 3540 bucks a month you're better off staying with cable. Again happy 2025 Happy New Year I love you guys keep up the great work

[@FrugalRules]

Happy New Year to you as well! That's a great question and one we've discussed a number of times. We do believe there'll be some sort of consolidation beginning in the future. Not every company will be able/want to continue with streaming for a variety of reasons. We think it'll be the bigger players - Netflix, Google, Amazon, and maybe another one or two that'll continue to stick around.

[@RandyDickinson-o8f]

@@FrugalRules I think you're on the money I hope sling and friendly stick around but we'll have to see what shakes out and have a great one guys